Deal Us In

As the campaign hits the final lap, Senator Shumlin has been endorsed by Senator Dick Mazza of Chittenden-Grand Isle.  This would be a routine political development – they are both Democrats, after all – and hardly worth noticing except that Mazza is regarded as a pro-business centrist and his endorsement has been avidly sought by both Senator Shumlin and Lt. Governor Dubie.  Also, Senator Mazza cast one of only four votes, last year, against the bill to prevent relicensing of Vermont Yankee.  That measure is one of Senator Shumlin’s signature accomplishments, so one wonders if the Vermont Yankee issue had any bearing on the endorsement.

Fair question.

Mr. Shumlin is blessed with an extra political chromosome and he has the skills both to adapt to the moment and to see the shape of things two or three moves ahead.  So he surely realizes that while running against Yankee is good politics, closing the plant would be traumatic – to say the least – for the economy of Vermont, costing more than 600 desirable jobs at a stroke, not to mention the hit to ancillary suppliers and contractors.  Then, there is the loss to the state of tax revenues and the likelihood that ratepayers would be hit with higher prices for power.

There are a lot of responsible people in Vermont – especially among the business community – who also understand this and fear for the already-fragile economic health of the state in the event Yankee is shut down.  

That said, what happens?

Well, it's what you'd expect: responsible people get together with Mr. Shumlin to figure out a way to find possible common ground. And Mr. Shumlin, being Mr. Shumlin, likes that.  It's his chance to convince everyone on all sides of the issue, that he's on their side.

Apparently, that's exactly what has happened.

  Mr. Shumlin attended a meeting, recently, at Senator Mazza’s Colchester home.  We spoke with one of the dozen or so people who attended the meeting which was held in a garage where Mazza stores his collection of Corvettes.  “Really wonderful cars,” the man says.  “A couple of them go back to the fifties.”

The question of relicensing Yankee came up early in the meeting and, “Someone asked Peter, ‘What’s the deal?  How can you say to us that you are pro-business and then tell us that you want to shut that plant down?’

“Peter said some things about safety and trust in the management of the plant and someone asked him, ‘Well, Peter, if Entergy were not the owner, could you support relicensing of the plant?’

“And Peter said, ‘Yes,’ adding that he would need to be assured by the proper authorities that the plant was safe.

“So then, someone asked him, ‘Well, why aren’t you saying that in the campaign?’

“And Peter answered, basically, without answering.”

But, the man says, everyone left the meeting believing that Senator Shumlin could support relicensing of Vermont Yankee if  ownership changes and an agreement can be struck to provide power to the state utilities at an attractive price.  (Say 5 cents a kilowatt, which is where current negotiations are supposedly headed.) 

If that happens, then he's a Vermont Yankee supporter. The jobs stay, businesses aren't hurt, the state keeps the tax revenue, etc., and Mr. Shumlin walks away as the big deal maker.

Yes, there's a hitch. But a small one. Yes, he has made closing Vermont Yankee the central part of his campaign. It's what won him the primary and more money has been spent in this campaign on the need to close Vermont Yankee than any other issue. Mr. Blittersdorf, the campaign's biggest supporter and asset, might be a tad upset.  But, hey, that's why buses have tires, someone's got to be tossed under them.

This is a hard story, however, for the average voter to swallow.  Most of us, in fact, will choke on the secrecy and deal making.  The whole business, in fact, mocks this effusive coda to the Freeps’ recent editorial endorsement of Shumlin for governor:

Shumlin has pledged to run an open administration, and work to reduce the barriers to public access that permeates Vermont laws. This is the only way to run state government, and the only way elected officials can be held accountable. Openness is the most important promise to Vermonters the next governor must keep.

Like most of the rest of the state's ordinary, unconnected, unenlightened, kept-in-the-dark citizens, we agree.  Open it up; let the light shine in; la transparence, la transparence, toujours la transparence!

Sadly, the Mazza/Shumlin compact is proof that the big decisions are still being made in secret meetings that are attended by the movers and shakers who then spread the word around, very quietly, among those who are, like themselves, in the know.  The rest of us will learn what has been decided – for our benefit, of course – in the fullness of time.

If you are a mere member of the herd, on the question of what will happen to the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant should Senator Senator Shumlin be elected governor, you probably think the answer is quite clear. The plant is history.  After all, you keep up and you can remember reading in the Freeps endorsement that

Shumlin can claim credit for the 26-4 vote this year that led the Senate to deny Vermont Yankee a chance to seek from the Public Service Board an extension of its operating license for 20 years beyond 2012.

Nothing you have seen anywhere since then will have prepared you for the day when Entergy, current owner of Yankee, sells to another operator – the names one hears are Exelon and Florida Power and Light – making it possible to turn the page on what has become an acrimonious relationship between the state and Entergy and for then-governor Shumlin to argue that his problem was with management and that it has been fixed.  Also, that the price of power and the guarantee of its delivery make the deal too good to resist, in spite of whatever qualms one might feel about nuclear power.

The whole thing does have a kind of hardnosed charm to it.  Sort of like Nixon going to China.  It is also perfectly calibrated to push many disillusioned voters into extravagant realms of cynicism.

But, then, it has been that kind of year.

 

Comments

[Tom Licata]

Geoff writes:

"There are a lot of responsible people in Vermont – especially among the business community – who also understand this and fear for the already-fragile economic health of the state..."

This morning, on a CNBC report, an analyst reported that actuaries were speaking to pension boards around the country, telling them that the 8% discount rate needs to be reduced to at least 7%.

What does this mean?

It means a 10% – 40% increase in annual contributions into pension funds.

This will put even more strain on education and state budgets.

The silence on this problem from our leaders, especially our treasurer, Jeb Spaulding, who should be at the forefront of this, is deafening.

All of the ‘pretending and extending’ of our problems is over.

‘Kicking the can down the road’ for future generations, is over.

The future is today.

It’s not a pretty site.

Sacrifice should be a word coming out of all our leaders’ mouths.

Vote thoughtfully on Nov. 2.

[Jim Minetti]

Obama got elected on bailing on Afghanastan, closing Gitmo, and repealing "Don't ask, don't tell". With those promises he was able to rally the radical leftist base. Reality has proven to be more of a challenge, and power is more important than honor to this crowd.

Schumlin is following Obama's playbook on this one, and it might be a winning play for him. Apparently there is no room for conscience in politics.

[Wendy Wilton]

Shumlin will say absolutely anything to anybody to get elected. That's basically what separates him from Dubie.

[Lazarus Long]

The WCAX reporter finally got some backbone and challanged Peter on this on Thursday. His "answers" were somewhat evasive.

[John McClaughry]

I watched Kristin Carlson put the question to Shumlin on Thursday's WCAX news. It was something like, "so, at the meeting did you agree to keep Yankee open under new management?" Shumlin, focusing intensely, replied "not to my knowledge".
"Not to my knowledge"? He didn't know what he had said to that crucial question?
If he had told Kristen "No", he would have been lying with numerous witnesses available to expose him. "Not to my knowledge" is the kind of answer defense lawyers tell their clients to give on the stand. One can readily conclude that Shumlin said Yes.

[Vermont Woodchuck]

Heh-heh-heh! I guess Mazza's turnips grow large enough now; figures the extra neutrons aren't necessary.

Do you wonder what happens if Entergy says no? Kinda like the masochistic saying "Beat me!" and the sadist saying, "NO!"

[Kimberly McGregor Clark]

This is Chicago politics at it's finest! Shumlin and his cronies are insulting Vermont voters with each step they take. They honestly believe that Vermont people are stupid, and are lying to us right to our faces. Their television ads are laughable. I personally do not like being treated like a fool. I will be voting for a valid candidate for Governor, Brian Dubie!

[Darren Allen]

So, who is this person who was one of a dozen? Over at vtbuzz, they talk to some people who were there, and they are named, and they denied that it went down as you said it did.

I am not saying that during a meeting with business people that things may have been said, but until you can actually put someone on the record, publicly, who will stand by these assertions, then this is nothing more than hearsay.

And Channel 3 finally "getting some backbone?" They've actually been quite critical of Shumlin throughout the campaign (They've also been skeptical about Dubie, as well).

Again, this story may or may not be true, but as a reader who was neither there nor has any first-hand knowledge of what went on, you've got to do better than one unnamed source.